A Long Road Ahead
by Danii x2
Summary: Harry Potter is kidnapped after an attack at Hogsmeade. Will they find him? Pre HBP...and AU cause Sirius Black is still alive...
1. Where'd you go?

Title: A Long Road Ahead

Author: Danii x2

Summary: After the kidnapping of Harry Potter, the clan at grimmald Place is frantically searching for him. Will they find him? If they do will he be able to recover and finally fight Voldemort?

Genres: Action/Adventure/Drama

Warnings: K+….nothing bad, references to torture and swear words

A/N: This is a seventh year summer fic. It's pre-HBP and it disregards the fact that Sirius died in OotP. So as far as you know Sirius was just stunned, he never fell into the veil (he's my favorite I couldn't let him die). Harry still learned about the prophecy and all that he just wasn't as angry, he was more panicking. As for Dumbledore he was killed when he was saving the school from Voldemort. I'm still piecing together what happened to him but in some of Harry's dementor attacks shows a little of his death.

Disclaimer- Nothing is ever mine...none of the books or those characters are mine…how depressing is that?

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Chapter 1- Where'd you go? 

A black haired, sixteen year old ducked as a blast of red sailed over his head. Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, was inwardly cursing Sirius for agreeing that they should be allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

His godfather, Remus and Mrs. Weasley had all agreed that going to Hogsmeade was safer than Diagon Alley and of course the Death Eaters just seemed to stalk his every move.

He ran quickly past Honeydukes as more spells were flung at his head. He skidded to a stop right behind the burning, Madame Puddifoot's. He ducked beneath a broken chair and hoped that Lucius Malfoy had not seen him.

Unfortunately, luck seemed to never be on his side. Harry sat quietly, praying that Lucius had not seen his quivering shadow. Harry wasn't afraid, but he was exhausted. He had been running for awhile, going from quidditch shop to where he was now and his lightning bolt shaped scar was searing painfully. Voldy was deliriously happy about something. Harry hadn't felt this much pain since the dementors left Azkaban and joined him.

"Crucio!!" a male voice cried. Harry felt intense pain rushing through his body. Each nerve and muscle was contracting with an unbelievable force. Harry screamed and wriggled trying to get out of way. Then the pain stopped and left Harry panting for breath. Lucius kicked him in the stomach and flipped him onto his back. Harry cringed and bit back a yelp. He had surely broken a few ribs.

"Diffindo," Lucius snarled. The curse hit him on the abdomen. It split his skin and Harry could feel his warm blood flowing over the sides. Lucius turned away from the sight and laughed. Harry knowing this was the only chance he had ducked out from the chair. Ignoring the pain he proceeded to sprint down the road to where he was to meet the others.

Suddenly, Harry stopped short, right at the end of the road. His friends were nowhere in sight, he hoped they were okay. Coldness swept over him and he felt the dizziness of approaching dementors. He felt light-headed as a wave of terrible memories were flooded into his mind.

He began to hear his mother screaming somewhere in his mind…the last few minutes of her life. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Cedric dying continuously. Then…he saw Dumbledore fall again onto the cold hard floor of the great Hall. His blue eyes with no light or twinkle. He felt tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. He was cornered near the shrieking shack. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to remember how he felt when he met Sirius for the first time.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" he shouted. A soft silvery vapor appeared. No! That wasn't going to work, instead of seeing his happily alive godfather, he saw him fall into the veil. Damn, the dementors were coming closer and Harry still couldn't produce a patronus. He scrunched up his face making himself think of nothing but Ginny. Her flowing red hair, her gorgeous brown eyes, her curvy figure, and their first kiss…

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" he yelled again. This time his silvery stag exited from his wand. He pranced to the herd of dementors.

"CRUCIO!!" Harry felt excruciating pain, racing all over his body. He screamed loudly, as he fell to the floor writhing and shrieking in pain.

"Hehe, I'm sorry Potter, but you're not going anywhere. Which do you want to keep up the dementors or the cruciatus curse? ANSWER ME." A woman had followed him as he ran from the dementors and death eater.

It was Bellatrix Lestrange, the evil bitch woman who tortured Neville's parents and made them be insane.

Harry didn't say anything. He was still dealing with the effects from the cruciatus curse and searching fro his wand. He couldn't find it anywhere, it wasn't in his hand or in his left pocket.

"Not going to say anything? Ooh. You're so bad, I guess we'll just have to keep both coming. CRUCIO!" She said waving her wand in the same motion. In her right hand she held her own wand but in her left she held Harry's. He could feel burning anger boiling over the surface as she twirled his wand in between his fingers.

The dementors came closer, and the pain from the curse increased even worse. The images, and voices swam inside his mind making him incapable of thinking properly. As the voices became louder and the pain more evident, Harry fell into peaceful oblivion, not even noticing the tug behind his naval.

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Ginny stumbled past a group of people crowding around the Three Broomsticks. She saw Sirius, Remus, and Ron sitting on the steps near the large shop, all looking worn, exhausted and bloodied. 

Remus normally ragged robes were burned at the bottom and the entire left sleeve was gone, revealing an ugly recently healed wound. Ron had no noticeable cuts but he had a burn on his cheek about five centimetres below his eye and he had a strip of his robe tied around his palm. Sirius had a deep cut in his shoulder that was spouting fresh blood and was leaning against the stair handle like it was his lifeline. Remus and Sirius were so preoccupied with trying to stop the flow of blood that they didn't notice her approaching.

"Guys!" she cried as she walked past a trembling seven year old girl who clung to her mother's hand like it was a lifeline.

"Ginny, thank Merlin you're all right." Ron exclaimed. "Mom would have killed me if anything happened to you. Where's Harry? Have you seen Hermione?"

"What do you mean, isn't he with you guys?" Ginny asked, sounding lightly frantic. "Is she not here too?"

"We got separated," Ron said curtly, his tall figure peering over the mob of terrified townspeople.

"Let's not worry, he's probably being heroic and Hermione is probably trying to deflate his ego and drag him away from a fight," Remus said. After a few minutes of watching the number of people leave the area and worrying to themselves, they spotted three familiar faces. Tonks and Fred were leading George who was limping somewhat.

"Is everyone here?" Tonks asked, looking dishevelled, her sleek red hair was falling out of her bun, and her face was covered in black soot, her pale blue eyes reflected pain, yet she kept her collected, cool and calm auror/ investigator voice.

"No, Harry and Hermione aren't." Ginny whispered. She bent down and helped another family with their mess of packages that had fallen in the mad rush to get to an apparation or portkey point.

"Are we sure they're not with Moody?"

"Yes, Moody and Kingsley went to get the order. Load of luck that'll do, most of the death eaters are already gone. They came to bring fear and pain and then left within five minutes. I didn't even get to curse anyone." Sirius said. Remus snorted and exchanged glances with Tonks who rolled her eyes at her cousin's eagerness.

"'Mione!!" Ron shouted startling Ginny, who had nearly fallen as he jumped in the air and shouted.

"Ron!" Hermione said as Ron engulfed her in a hug and a kiss on her forehead. She winced and cradled her injured wrist.

Remus stepped around the sitting form of George and began to examine her cuts and tend to her wrist.

"Where's Harry?" Tonks asked.

"Huh? You mean he's not back here?" She asked her tone of voice clearing showing her worries. "How could he not be here?"

"Hermione calm down. And what happened. Please tell us slowly," Tonks said slightly impatient. It seemed that the severity of their situation was starting to get to her.

"The three of us ran out of the shop maybe about two seconds before it exploded." She said pointing to herself and Ron, "Harry and I ran in the direction of Honeydukes while Ron went toward the Post Office. We...erm...both ducked behind a fallen sign when about six death eaters appeared from thin air. Stupidly, we began firing. We sent a couple of stunners—I think we sent two of them down—but the others took cover and one shot two cutting curses—one caught my arm—and the other missed both of us." She touched her arm with the uninjured hand, "Then the other shot cruciatus and thank goodness it missed both of us." She gulped and Ron tightened his grip around her.

"We both ducked after that cause they bombarded us with all types of spells, most nonverbal and a few that exploded things close to us. I shot off another stunner, and in return half of the sign I was hiding behind was blown apart. Harry, as a distraction, sent off some of his own curses and I crouched down further. I began firing again and well I guess my arm got in the way, before I knew it I had cried out from the pain and they resumed attacking my sign."

"That bloody sucks. Was it a bone breaking curse?" Fred asked.

"It was," Remus answered as he prodded her wrist resulting a hiss of pain from Hermione.

"Anyway, Hermione if you could continue. I have the feeling that this story isn't much longer,"

Hermione nodded and continued,squeezing her eyes shut as Remus repaired the bone, " Since our signs were close together, Harry and I ran. Not a minute to soon, I suppose. Not long after we had both reached the forest we heard the sound of a crash and the loud swearing of the men. We both ran. I guess we never noticed we weren't running together and…erm…I didn't stop until I got to the edge and ended up maybe about thirty meters from the Shack. Now that I think about it, I don't know why I didn't use a spell. I knew the perfect spell for investigating the forest, I found it in one of my new books but I didn't use it…it really makes no sense, I wasn't under immense amount of fire, I was just running,"

"Adrenaline." Sirius said. Noticing several confused expressions, he rolled his eyes and continued, "You were running on adrenaline. You know the stuff that makes your blood pump really fast and has your mind make most of your decisions really rational and just based on survival?" He raked a hand through his hair, "Seriously, am I the only one that knows about human anatomy. Surely you know Moony?"

Remus chuckled and said, "Forget it. It's for later explanations. Hermione is that the last you remember?"

"Yes, I ran from the forest and past the post office. I was going to go to the apparation point and then go straight to the house but then I spotted you lot near the steps." Smiling slightly, she turned to Ron. "Actually I think he spotted me first,"

"Well that narrows it down just a bit," Fred said sarcastically, "Harry could be anywhere". He then winced and fell to the ground next to George when Tonks kicked the area behind his knee caps.

"Hermione helped a lot," Tonks said noticing the grateful look Hermione threw at her. She knew the Hermione wasn't in the mental state to deal with Fred's antics. "Now we know that Harry's not in this general area but he ould be in the forest hiding or injured—"

Suddenly, a loud shout pierced the air. Both Remus and Sirius shot up in the air, listening closely.

"Harry," they said in unison and facing west. Sirius jumped off steps and transformed into his big black dog. He sniffed the ground in search for a scent. His entire body stiffened and his nose pointed in the general northwest direction toward the shrieking shack. Remus bent down by the dog, as Sirius transformed back into his human self.

"I got his scent, but it's mixed with a vaguely familiar perfume," he said his face twisted in repulsion. Remus closed his eyes and gingerly letting the wolf take control for brief seconds he opened them, shocking the people that never saw the wolfish part of him, with the brilliant gold color. He sniffed the air. He sniffed again, and convulsed in disgust. He snarled at the familiar scent, his mouth curling over his surprisingly sharp teeth. Gearing himself for having to take control over once again he closed his eyes and tensed visibly. Then stopped suddenly. He shook his head and stretched his body to get out the kinks.

"I know who's that is. That's Bellatrix' perfume. She still uses the same one since Hogwarts," he said holding a hand over his mouth and shaking head, trying to clear it from the smell.

"I thought he was the dog?" Fred asked pointing toward Sirius. Everyone was staring at the two in amazement.

"He is but Moony sense of smell is really good too. Okay lets go. Sirius turn back into Padfoot." He said taking control of the situation. Sirius nodded and transformed once again. He set off at a fast pace making everyone jog to keep up and have to push through the thinning crowd. He made several odd turns until they came to a halt near the shrieking shack. In the clearing near it to be exact.

Padfoot whimpered and shook his long black hair out of his dog eyes. He then began frantically searching through the bushes around the area. Sirius transformed back into himself.

"This is where the trail ends," he said softly. He shivered wrapping an arm around himself. The group split up and began searching the area. Twenty minutes later they congregated around a huge tree in the middle of the semi-clearing.

"I was right here," Hermione whispered. "I was just in that clearing over there," she pointed a finger to the side. She stared at her finger in disgust. How could she have been that close to Harry yet far enough away that he didn't hear her cries?

"Tonks is there a spell to see if a portkey was just used?" Remus asked softly breaking the poignant silence that had previously graced the group.

"Yea, sure. It's a basic auror spell." Tonks waved her wand over the ground in front of her, while the others peered and examined the ground for any chance that nothing happened and Harry would turn up unharmed.

Suddenly, her wand emitted a high-pitched squeal. She looked up from the ground to meet seven pairs of eyes.

"Since you haven't said anything yet we're assuming a portkey was used. Was it?" Hermione asked..

"Yeah, but I can't track where they are. They cleaned this up expertly." She said tiredly. "Let's go back to headquarters and break the news to Molly."

The group, almost in unison, exhaled the breathe that they had unconsciously had held. They trudged wearily across the grass and with utter hopelessness held onto the old boot they used for a portkey.

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Yay!! The first chapter is here for all of you folks to read. I hope you like it! Please review…. I know you see it…so move your mouse and click it…Its not that hard just type a few words…I'll even take nonsense words!!! Thanks for reading (and reviewing?)! 


	2. Mirror, Mirror in my Hand

Title: A Long Road Ahead

Author: Danii x2

Summary: After the kidnapping of Harry Potter, the clan at grimmald Place is frantically searching for him. Will they find him? If they do will he be able to recover and finally fight Voldemort?

Backstory… Seventh year summer story…Dumbledore is dead but Sirius is still alive…they're at Grimmald Place because of imminent threats and attacks with the death eaters again…Nothing in HBP happened...

Disclaimer: I'm not stealing...I have to fulfill my addiction while we wait for teh Seventh book to come!!

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Chapter 2- Mirror, Mirror in my hand… 

"HOW COULD YOU HAVE AGREED WITH LETTING THEM GO TO HOGSMEADE? NOW FOR ALL WE KNOW HE COULD BE---" Molly shouted as Ron and Tonks made their way through the fire and into the spacious kitchen where most of the order was situated.

Some were talking in hushed voices amongst themselves while a larger amount were following the argument that Sirius and Molly were having. Sirius was standing next to the window his face set in a nonchalant look. His shoulder was tied with a soaked handkerchief but you could clearly see the faint rusty color beneath the cloth.

"DO YOU NOT THINK THAT I KNOW THAT?" He shouted back, whipping around to face her.

"YOU COULD HAVE SAID NO!!!"

"YOU SAID YES TOO"

"BECAUSE I THOUGHT HE WOULD BE SAFE WITH YOU THREE," Molly waved her wand and a small blood pool from one of their cuts disappeared. "Evidently I put too much trust into you lot,"

"Oh, what would you have done differently Molly? He's seventeen for merlin's sake, we can't wander behind him ready to pick up anything that drops and coddle him. What were you going to do? Let him sit here the entire summer? Make sure that he acts like a good boy and have no fun? I understand that you don't want him hurt but honestly Molly your not the only one. I spent twelve years in Azkaban with only my depressed thoughts and those horrible creatures. I began to think that maybe my fuckin' delusions were real. That maybe everyone was dead. And no Molly I don't want that, I never have,"

Molly was seething. She just couldn't understand why Sirius wouldn't just admit that she was right and he should have stayed back with her, maybe none of them should have gone out.

Well, maybe now she did understand a little. In his own, oddly protective but audacious way he was like a parent to Harry. She was the mother hen that nurtured and protected the little eggs during the day but at night when "dad" came home the world turned upside down. He was the fun "parent" that was adventurous and exciting.

"BUT, WE SHOULD HAVE TRIED, SOMTHING. I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STAY WITH THE CHILDREN AND KEEP--"

"To be honest Molly I wouldn't do that now." Remus said. He was leaning against the counter next to the fireplace.

"Why not he deserves it?" she shouted enraged.

"Because he's mentally kicking himself in the ass right this very moment." Remus said knowingly.

"Thanks ever so much, Remus for this marvelous insight." She hissed, sarcasm dripping on every word.

"THAT IS ENOUGH! STOP FIGHTING RIGHT NOW!" Tonks shouted finally getting fed up with all shouting. "We should be figuring out a way to save Harry not fighting about whose fault is was. Now apologize right now" Sirius took a deep breath and made his way over to Molly.

"Tonks is right. I'm sorry, it's just with all of this stuff I have very little self control." Molly sighed and met his eyes.

"Fine, I'm sorry too." She said turning around to make everyone hot chocolate.

"Okay now that this is over we have to think of a plan," Remus said moving over to sit in one of the chairs. He took out a muggle rubrics puzzle cube that he just happened to have in his pocket and began to twist it in between his fingers, working back and forth with the colored sections.

"Yeah, just blurt out anything that comes to mind. That's how James and I used to come up with plans." Sirius added pacing about the kitchen. Everyone nodded and the kitchen became silent. After a few minutes a loud voice interrupted their thinking.

"I GOT IT!! We sent in people and—wait we have to know where he is first. Sorry." Bill apologized. Everyone murmured their acceptance, and fell silent once again, expect for the occasional musing outside their heads.

"gates…codes…spells" Molly muttered, as she set a mug of hot chocolate in front of everyone.

"balls, mirrors…glasses…MIRRORS!!" Sirius shouted, unexpectedly stopping pacing. Remus looked up wide eyes. He jumped up, throwing the cube from his hands. He stood up next to Sirius and met his eyes. He grasped his shoulders and let out an uncharacteristic whoop.

"I'll go find my mirror then we can use yours, to communicate. This is brilliant."

"I know right. Sometimes I wonder about my own genius" Sirius exclaimed.

"You couldn't have thought of a better way to find him,"

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN ARE YOU TALING ABOUT?" Molly yelled again. They sighed at having to explain the story.

"When we were 13, the three of us made magical mirrors. Since James and Sirius were in detention most of the time, we needed a way to talk with ach other. We went through tons of books looking through a way."

"But, don't you have to use the location and reflection charms? We haven't even learned it yet, but you were able to do it at 13? That's unheard of." Hermione exclaimed looking amazed, yet jealous.

"Yea, yea, we were able to do it, but that's for another time when Harry's here," Remus said waving his hand away from the question.

"We finally found something, and we made four of them. Sirius gave his to Harry and I have mine, we lost James' and I cracked the rat's when I found him watching Lily and James." Remus said.

"Why did you give Harry one?"

"Since we couldn't speak with each other during school, with that foul Umbridge woman everywhere and with me being a fugitive. That one cracked at the end of last year, so we fixed it and he's using it again."

"Accio Remus' mirror." Sirius shouted. He waited a couple of seconds, and heard a whistling sound, of something flying through the air. Fred turned around and ducked as a thin, circular object was hurtling through the air towards the door to the kitchen. Sirius stuck out his hand and caught the object easily. He sat in a chair and Remus joined him. Sirius cleared his throat and looked into the mirror warily.

"I have the worst feeling of deja vu." Sirius muttered under his breath.

"No kidding,"

"James Potter," Sirius said. The mirror made no move to change. The shiny surface stayed the same and showed his pale face with worried filled grey eyes.

"What if you say Harry's name instead?" a tearful voice asked. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were sitting against the wall watching the adults worriedly.

"You know that might actually help." Sirius nodded and tried again.

"Harry Potter," Suddenly, the surface shimmered, and turned black.

"Sirius?" a weak voice asked. The image was fuzzy, but Sirius could definitely see the outlines of a person.

"Yes, it's me kiddo. Are you all right?"

"No…cold…dementors…cruciatus…" he said his voice fading.

"Harry, stay with me. Where are you?"

"not sure…cell, maybe…your--ahhhhhh" Suddenly, he screamed from the effects of the cruciatus. "Ooh whose this? Hello dear cousin. I thought I killed you. Oh well, I'll just have to try again—" Her voice was cut off from the shattering sound of breaking glass.

When Remus heard the sound of Bellatrix laughing he grabbed a heavy yellow wax candle that was sitting on the mantle of the fireplace and thrust it on the glass, shattering the mirror in thousands of pieces. Sirius held an amount in his bloody hands and exchanged a shrug with Tonks who was watching Remus wide eyed.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT REMUS?" all of the teenagers shouted in unison. Remus looked up grim faced and opened his mouth to speak.

"Because, Bellatrix could find out where we are, right now."

"I thought this house was under the fidelius charm?" Molly asked alarmed.

"Oh it is. But, the psychopath spent enough time here with my mother to figure out where we are. She might not be able to tell Voldemort but…" Remus ended, letting the group come up with their own ending.

"Okay, so now what are we going to do?' Tonks asked, her hair was lengthening steadily and was darkening to her real long silky black. Her eyes were slowing turning to the sparkling gray Sirius' were.

"I have no clue," Remus said crestfallen. Sirius was astounded. Whenever the Marauders were in deep trouble, they could rely on Remus to figure out a plan. Sirius could also help but his plans were often hysterically difficult and very odd.

"But, you have to come up with something, you're Moony. Whenever James went along with one of my ridiculous schemes and we got into a lot of trouble you always knew how to fix it."

"No Padfoot you used your charming personality to talk your way out of everything." He said. Sirius smirked and turned to Hermione who had begun to speak.

"Okay, okay so why don't we start off trying to figure out where he is first of all," Hermione said. "that's the most logical."

"Harry said _cell_. But which kind of cell?" Fred asked.

"Yes, but he also said _yours_." Ron added.

"Let see he was talking to Sirius and he had a cell…" Remus whispered. There was a loud crash as the extra pieces of the mirror fell from Sirius' hand. His gray eyes met with Remus' blue. They both knew exactly what he meant.

"You…don't…think…" Sirius asked his voice wavering. He had gotten very pale, and was shaking slightly.

"I don't know Padfoot. They just might be that cruel"

"You have got to be friggin kidding me," Sirius growled threw his hands up in the air shedding bits of glass all over thought no one seemed to mind. They were preoccupied with watching the two men engage themselves in conversations where the crowd had no knowledge of understanding.

Sirius and Remus looked lost. Sirius had the appearance of someone who had seen a ghost and Remus seemed to have gotten even older in the past five minutes.

"Would anyone like to tell us what your thinking? Seeing as you're having another one of your telepathic talks." Ginny asked sounding fed up.

"We're sure…"

"Actually, we're hoping we're completely wrong on this but…" Remus shot Sirius a glare and began to speak.

"We think he might be in Azkaban…" he finished. The entire kitchen was silent. The teenagers left the kitchen hurriedly. Ginny was the first, rushing past her oldest brother and several of his friends, her face was wet with tears and eyes were full with more. Hermione was next, following Ginny not wanting to believe what could happen to her best friend. Ron was the last. He trudged slowly and tiredly past everyone. His face was no longer filled with happiness. Now it was painfilled and tightly clasped shut. His lean body seemed to wilt as he thought about the problems his best friend was dealing with.

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Yay, another chapter is completed! The next chapter is Harry's POV plus you get a surprise cliffy!!!! I hope you guys like this! I have final exams coming up so I really don't know how long it will be until my next update. But you know...if there are a lot of reviews I just might write faster...Thanks for everyone's great support You guys make me feel so much better about my writing. 


	3. Death Eaters, dementors & Curses, O my

Title: A Long Road Ahead

Author: Danii x2

Backstory… Seventh year summer story…Dumbledore is dead but Sirius is still alive (im still in denial years later)…they're at Grimmald Place because of imminent threats and attacks with the death eaters…Pre HBP

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**Chapter 3- Death Eaters, dementors, and curses, O my**

Harry awoke with a painful headache. His entire body ached as if he had a terrible case of the flu. He moved slightly and let out a small cry when his leg muscles contorted in pain. He was dirty and smelly. His hair was so greasy it could have rivaled Snape's own head of hair. He wanted more than anything to go home to the Burrow or Hogwarts and take a long peaceful shower. But no, he was stuck in this cell…alone. He still didn't know where he was.

The walls were made of hard, cold, slimy stone and so was the floor. Harry was lying on a pallet of some sort in the corner. The floor was covered in a sticky substance. When Harry realized what it was he nearly vomited. It was his blood. He guessed it must have been from the cutting curse that Malfoy Sr. had used on him at Hogsmeade. He felt his abdomen where the curse hit and was unsurprised to find his robes in tatters and his stomach split open. There was a fine crust of blood on the outer edge, which when touched made Harry nauseous. He tore himself away from the site and sat up against the disgusting wall.

There was only one window in the small room. Even though it was barred and covered in filth the window was perfect for viewing the night outside. The night sky was a dark navy blue with twinkling lights every few meters. A sliver of the moon was high in the sky and glowing brightly illuminating different sections of the cell.

As his vision became more accustomed to the darkness, he noticed drawings on the wall and stubs of white chalk in the corner. The pictures were crudely done in chalk and dusty from the lack of cleaning. Several were pictures of a dog, a stag, and a large wolf. Another was of a beautiful flower, a lily maybe, a large stag and a small baby stag.

Harry thought for a moment. He remembered seeing pictures like that before. On winter break last year, Sirius had shown him an old stack of parchment that held old prank plans. There were similar pictures that Sirius had drawn all over the cover of it. All over it were pictures of a stag, a dog, a tiny rat and an enormous wolf.

Could he really be in Sirius' cell? No, that couldn't be true. He shivered as a wave of fresh coldness engulfed him.

_No not Harry, please not Harry. _

_Take me instead_.

_Kill me, not Harry_

He grimaced. More dementors were outside his door. They had been outside the door all night. Even though he was unconscious the horrible images of people dying kept appearing never letting him has a moment of peace.

As if it wasn't enough to listen to his mother but occasionally his father would appear and then as if the party weren't big enough Albus Dumbledore would pop in and complain about him maybe threaten him.

_You could have tried harder Harry._

_You could have worked harder._

And there was Sirius again. He was complaining once again about the third year dementor adventure. He had been back at least four times in the last twenty minutes.

The people in his head just never seemed to give up.

Unexpectedly, he felt a buzzing in his pocket. His head shot up in wonder, his head cocked to the side as he thought about what . Then he remembered, the mirror. Two weeks a go, Sirius had given him the repaired mirror and he had gladly taken it. Harry had wanted to be able to talk with both Sirius and Remus whenever he wanted. Now he was extremely thankful that he had it. This was the only way he could tell them that he was safe.

"Sirius?" he asked. He was shocked at how weak he sounded. The dementors must have taken more of a bite out of him than he thought.

"Yes, it's me kiddo. Are you alright?"

"No, it's so cold…it's dementors…cruciatus too" he whispered. The dementors were coming closer, his hands were shaking and he could barely hold the mirror upright.

"Harry stay with me. Where are you?" Sirius asked patiently. Harry could tell he was trying hard to keep the worry out of his voice. He might have been trying but he was failing horribly.

"not sure…cell, maybe you—" Suddenly, Harry dropped the mirror at some person's feet and fell back onto the pallet crying out because of the pain racing through his body. It was the cruciatus curse again. The person who had entered the cell cursed loudly and intensified the pain of the curse. The person was shouting at Harry and ushering the dementors to come around him.

Then a man spoke and the pain stopped, Harry could not make out the words but the voice was familiar. A stray thought swiveled around in his brain trying to remember. Then it clicked. It was someone who Harry thought he would never be glad to see. It was Severus Snape.

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I know, I know. That was an incredibly short chapter but I wrote it very quickly between shifts because I have to go to work (the sick need help, what can I say?). 

I hope you guys can forgive me and give me thousands of reviews, I know you have it in you!!!! Plus, you can have virtual hugs and cookies as a present.


	4. An Inquiry and a Plan

**...A Long Road Ahead...**

**read first chapter for backstory**

**Chapter 4- An Inquiry and a Plan**

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Severus Snape apparated with a loud pop right outside the gates of the surrounding the stone fortress. Azkaban. What an ugly name. Of course it was filled with dangerous creatures and psychopathic killers, only meant for this hellhole. 

He touched the potions in his left pocket. It had been his idea to use fake worthless potions for some "useful" purposes. He had an idea but wasn't about to waste it on Bella. All he had to do was act seductive and she would fall. Imagine a beautiful woman falling for Severus Snape. The conceited James Potter was probably rolling in his grave because of that thought.

He strode past several dementors that were guarding the door--forcefully trying to hide his shivers--and entered into the dimly lit hall. To his left was a spiral staircase that led to the most highly potential watched criminals, or in their case, Black's cell.

To his right were three doors. The first was where four of Voldemort's most faithful death eaters were going to stay. The second and third were passageways to other cells.

Severus walked along through the first door and flicked on the light, inside was a small messy room with four beds. Only the lone bed in the corner was being used. A tall man with blonde hair was snoring loudly, and his unnaturally large feet were sticking out from under the blankets. Snape grimaced and walked around to the other beds. There was no one else there. The others must have been wracking evil throughout the muggle world or at the death eater headquarters in the old Riddle House.

Suddenly, a muffled scream was heard from the door. He quickly sprinted into the hallway and up the stairs, passing a few lounging death eaters every corner. He slowed down as he neared the cell, feeling the power of the dementors. A flicker of emotion crossed his face as he thought about how Potter was doing with the herd of dementors surrounding him. The screams vibrated through the halls and Severus quickly slipped soundly into the small cells.

"You insolent FOOL. What did you tell them?" Bellatrix shrieked. Harry was laying on the stone floor, twisting his body in silent screams. His black robes were in tatters and he had a very large gash across his stomach.

"Bella he's not going to be able to answer you if he's insane." He sneered at her from the doorway. He leaned against the stone in a hopefully casual way.

"I see your back from your precious order meeting," she hissed back silkily. "What do they want you to do?" She cut off the curse leaving Harry panting for air. He sat up weakly against the wall and watched the exchange. Snape rolled his eyes.

"You know the deal. Give him potions, check and see if he's all right. Blah, blah, blah. Like I would do that." He said. He withdrew his hand from his pocket and held two bottles. He opened one up and pink smoke filled the air. He poured it onto the floor in slow motion, letting each drop fall to the ground. He threw it on the ground and watched it break in many pieces. He laughed harshly and was joined by Bellatrix' cackle. She walked toward him.

"We're on seven cruciatus curses, make it up to 10. You'll do that, won't you Sevy?" she asked twisting a strand of her long black hair around her index finger. She puckered her lips and winked at him. She ran a finger down his face and smiled. Severus felt sick just looking at her. He knew well enough to keep up the seductive charade until she left, even if it kept him gagging in the back of his throat.

"Not too much flirty Bella, don't want to get Rud jealous," he answered taking out his wand and pointing it at Harry.

"Goodbye Potty. I'll be back later to give you more fun. _Diffindo_." She used her wand to slashed across his chest leaving a large blood trail to drip down. He gasped and clutched it. She laughed gleefully and exited the room. Snape looked out the door and seeing no one quickly closed it.

"_Muffliato. Colloportus_" he hissed softly. He strode forward and knelt down next to Potter. He dug his hand into his inner robe pocket and brought out four small bottles. Each one had a different color and smoke trail.

"What are those for?" Harry asked. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain as he tried to sit up better.

"Do you really think I'd try to kill you now with the entire Weasley family, not to mention Black and that werewolf all back at headquarters?" He sneered, pulling a block of chocolate out of his pocket. He raised his wand and skillfully healed the gash on his arm, making it seem like it was still bleeding. He nearly laughed with glee at the wide-eyed shocked look on Potter's face when he thought that Severus would seriously try to kill him.

"This first one is a strengthening solution. The next should help with the effects of the cruciatus curse and this third one immobilizes any broken bones as not to hurt so much. The last one will heal some of the internal damage so you won't be killed from your organs bleeding out. All of these potions are very weak so it will go undetected until the order can get you out of here." He murmured handing him potions while he talked. After Harry had gulped down the potions he collected the bottles and stuffed them into his pockets. He gave him the chocolate and stood up.

"What are they doing?" he whispered croakily.

"Right now they're planning your escape. Do not give in to them. Very soon, the Dark Lord will be coming so your scar will be blazingly painful. Also he will be very angry with you for the mirror incident." Severus said. Harry sighed. He met Snape's hard black eyes that were struggling to cover up an emotion.

"Thanks," Severus nodded and left the cell. He quickly exited the cell and walked down the spiral stairs. At the bottom were Bellatrix and Malfoy Sr.

"I heard about the mirror issue. What do they know?" Malfoy asked, looking intently at Severus. Knowing that he was trying to dig into his mind, Severus pushed up his occlumency shield, projecting only the picture of the Hogsmeade destruction.

"I don't know yet, I must go back and check with them." He said keeping his face emotionless.

"What number of curses is he on? I didn't hear any screaming."

"He's at 10. I silenced the room, I wanted to enjoy the pleasure myself. I can't get too much when I have to pretend to care about the kid," He said walking toward the door. Bellatrix smiled evilly and marched back up the stairs with Malfoy on her heels. Severus breathed a sigh of relief and left toward the apparition point they had set up.

* * *

The dark night sky was slowly turning it's usual grayish black. It was nearly dawn, and time to head back to Grimmald Place. Now he had to break the news to the order. 

"Ooh I got one," Sirius said excitedly.

"If this has anything to do with sneaking into Azkaban and to pretend to be death eaters than, no we can't risk it," Remus said from his seat on the couch next to Tonks and Sirius. The seven adults (now including Kingsley and Moody) and Fred and George were sitting in the drawing room, at about two in the morning. They had been shooting ideas at each other since dinner. At about ten, Molly had finally persuaded Ron, Hermione and Ginny to go to bed, but everyone knew that they were waiting impatiently in Fred and George's room to hear about any plans.

Sirius shot Remus a glare and flopped back on the couch. "I thought it was good idea," he grumbled.

"Don't start thinking I don't. I wish we could, and then blow it to smithereens. We could finally get rid of those dementors once and for all." Remus answered back. Sirius sighed.

"I have an idea to find out if he's really in Azkaban," Tonks began. "What about Snape? We could send him in and scope out the area."

"Good idea, but his dark mark flared about five minutes before everyone else arrived here, so he's probably going to tell us about what happened then." Kingsley answered in his deep booming voice.

"Snape brought a couple of useful potions incase Harry's where they're making Snape apparate to." Remus said butting into the conversation.

"Yea, he's going to report back to us either later tonight or early tomorrow morning. We're taking shifts to wait up for him. I think you were at the Ministry when he came around." Tonks nodded and pushed back a strand of strawberry blonde hair.

"But what if when we find out we storm in there, at a weak point in the day…" Fred said sounding much more serious.

"…then we could send in three people while the other six or so protect them outside the cell and from incoming dementors." George finished.

"Hmm. Good display of Constant Vigilance." Moody said in approval.

"We're going to have to wait for Snape to come back with the lay out of the death eaters and perfect the plan."

"Okay so all we can do right now is fix up details and plan a bit more carefully." Remus said. He conjured a piece of parchment and a quill. "All right so here's what we have to do…"

* * *

I hope you lot all enjoyed this next installment. I know not much happened at headquarters but I felt that it jumped too much if I just jumped right into the rescue mission...aw snap I said too much...well you all knew that 

PS…did anyone see the new HP movie? I saw it and have so much to say that I'm about to burst. None of my family share my passion for HP so I can't rant about missing details or inconsistencies with any of them. What did you think? I thought it was fantastic despite the problems. I mean they did a great job squishing almost 800 something pages in 2 hours and 18 minutes. Wow, right? Tell me what you thought of it?

What about the BOOK!!!!? What did you think?? I thought it was great but missing some of her finer aspects. It was really hyped up and than not much happened. I'm sorry if I'm ruining something for someone that hasn't read yet!!!


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